Old Friends
by Kooshball
Summary: Alex wants her sister out of the army, and Sidney is brought in to help! Please R and R!
1. Telegram

Hawkeye looked at the buildings surrounding him. He had received a weird telegraph, and had come to Seoul to check it out. He remember getting it, and his surprise at what it said.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Sir, telegram,' Radar came into the Swamp, waving a piece of paper around his head. Hawkeye snatched it from him.  
  
'"Hawk, come to Seoul for two days R and R and come to this address next Tuesday, at six pm. Stop. If you don't show, I'll know you are too busy. Stop." Well, that's weird, there's no name. Radar, did it come with anything else, other than the address?' Hawkeye asked. Radar shook his head. He left, leaving Hawkeye to think about the telegraph.  
  
'Any idea who it could be?' BJ asked.  
  
'Hey, it might be Trapper! Maybe the Colonel will let you come with me!' Hawkeye said, excitedly. He stood up and the two left the Swamp.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Hey, you moving, or what?' a guy on the street asked him. Hawkeye realised he was in the man's road, and he stepped out of his way quickly.  
  
'Sorry,' Hawkeye apologised. The other man grunted and entered the small bar. Hawkeye checked the address again that he had re-scribbled onto a scrap of paper, and tried to smooth out the creases to make sure he was at the right place. It would be too bad to get all this way and find out later he'd been waiting for Trapper in the wrong bar.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Colonel, all I ask is a few days is Seoul. This is very important for me. It might be Trapper,' Hawkeye said desperately.  
  
'You really think?' Radar asked, wide eyed.  
  
'Is this Trapper fellow the man I replaced? I thought he was supposed to be dead,' Potter said from polishing his saddle.  
  
'No, Trapper is the man I replaced,' BJ said helpfully.  
  
'Trapper left and I never got to say good bye to him. If it is Trapper, it could be my chance to do so,' Hawkeye said. Potter looked up.  
  
'If it means so much to you, I suppose I could let you go for two days, unless we get a whole heap of casualties before then,' he said.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
Hawkeye sighed and straightened up a little. It was almost six now, and now was a good a time as any. He went into the dark bar, and looked around. It took him a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the lighting, but he looked around quickly, looking for the tall curly haired man who he had spent so many pranks on Frank with.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Sorry you can't come,' Hawkeye said from the jeep to BJ.  
  
'Hey, it's ok. Maybe I'll meet Trapper after the war,' BJ shrugged. 'Have a good trip.' The jeep was about to pull of when Klinger bounded up in a new dress and forms in his hands.  
  
'Sir, if you see Trapper, get him to sign these. That way, if you and BJ sign as well, I'll have the three doctor's signatures to go home on a section eight!' Klinger said excitedly. Hawkeye grinned over Klinger's head at BJ, but took the forms anyway.  
  
'I'm sure Trapper will be happy to sign them. He can consider it as a good bye present to you,' Hawkeye said, tucking them into his coat.  
  
'Oh, he already gave me that. He sent me these heels,' Klinger said, pointing to his feet. Hawkeye laughed as the jeep pulled away from BJ and Klinger.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Where is he?' Hawkeye hissed under his breath. He went to the bar, and sat down on a spare stool. The bar maid came up to him, and handed him a martini glass.  
  
'Here you go, sir!' the Korean girl said to him, bowing.  
  
'I didn't order yet!' Hawkeye said in surprise. 'But thanks anyway,' he added hastily before the girl could take the glass away. He took a sip from the glass and took another long look around the room. Still no sign of Trapper. Suddenly, some one flung their arms around Hawkeye's neck, making him spill the martini all over the bar. He spun around as who ever it was got off, and jumped.  
  
'Did you miss me?' Alex asked, a mischievous look on her face. 


	2. Alexia and Danielle

'I thought Trapper sent me the telegram,' Hawkeye told Alex after she had taken him to her table in the corner.  
  
'What? Did he go home? He never wrote me to tell me he was home!' Alex pretended to wail. She grinned. 'Is the guy who replaced him nice?'  
  
'One of the best. BJ Hunnicutt, wish you could meet him,' Hawkeye said, sipping his martini. 'Anyway, what are you doing in the war again? Henry sent you home.'  
  
'Yes, he did, but I decided I wanted to come back. I missed the Still,' Alex joked. Hawkeye looked over Alex the best he could in the dim lights of the bar. Alex still looked the same, though her hair was now longer, and her uniform was brand new.  
  
'How is Henry, anyway?' Alex asked. Hawkeye looked away. 'Hawkeye?' There was fear in Alex's voice now. 'What happened?'  
  
'He went home, a week or so before Trapper. His plane, it was shot down, and he was killed,' Hawkeye said, realizing his cheeks were wet.  
  
'Henry. . . how could this war be so unfair!' Alex threw her glass into the wall. A few people looked over, but neither she or Hawkeye cared. She sat back as a Korean bar maid fussed over getting her a new martini while another cleaned up the mess Alex had made.  
  
'The new Colonel is nice, though. He let me come out to see what the telegram was about,' Hawkeye said, putting a hand on Alex's arm. Alex glanced at him thankfully for changing the subject.  
  
'How is everyone? No-one else has left, have they?' she asked.  
  
'No, worst luck. Ferret Face and Hotlips are still at it. Frank is annoyed that Colonel Potter came to become CO instead of him,' Hawkeye said, smiling a little. 'Radar is fine, a little nervous around the new Colonel, but he's getting over it.'  
  
'What about Klinger? Still in dresses or did he get home?' Alex asked.  
  
'Wearing uniform and acting the perfect soldier,' Hawkeye replied. Alex gasped.  
  
'You're kidding?' she said. 'Max Klinger does not wear uniform!' Hawkeye started laughing.  
  
'No, I'm joking. Klinger is still trying to get a section eight,' Hawkeye said. 'In fact, we were all so sure it was Trapper, he sent me in with these papers so he could sign them, then BJ and I could sign them, and he could go home. He's going to be annoyed when he finds out he's not going home yet.' Hawkeye finished his current martini. 'So anyway, how have you been? What are you doing back in Korea?'  
  
'Well, I went home, as you know, and went back to the hospital I was working in. Danielle, she's my little sister, she finished school last year, and is working in the same hospital. More army type guys came around, asking for nurses and doctors to send out, and we signed up,' Alex said, shrugging.  
  
'You're crazy,' Hawkeye said, shaking his head.  
  
'Just a little,' Alex grinned. 'I've put in a transfer for both of us to go to the 4077.' Hawkeye looked up excitedly.  
  
'You're kidding?' he asked. 'That's great! You can meet BJ and Colonel Potter that way, and maybe even help us tease Frank!' Alex laughed at his reaction.  
  
'Oh, there's Danielle. You can meet her. You think I'm good at poker? Wait till you see her in action,' Alex said, waving over a girl who'd just come into the bar.  
  
'Meeting up with strange guys again, Alexia?' the girl asked when she came over. She had red hair like Alex, except it was cropped shortly around her head, and her eyes were brown instead of green. Other than that, and the absence of a scar on her left cheek, she was almost identical to Alex.  
  
'Danielle, I've told you not to call me Alexia, and this is Hawkeye. He isn't a stranger,' Alex said, blushing a little. Danielle held out a hand to Hawkeye.  
  
'Alexia wouldn't shut up about you the whole time she was home,' Danielle said. Suddenly, she was hopping on one leg, holding her leg where Alex had kicked her. 'Well, you wouldn't,' Danielle said defensively. She sat down opposite Hawkeye and winked.  
  
'If I call you Dani, will you please call me Alex?' Alex asked her.  
  
'I suppose I could,' Dani said, glaring at her older sister.  
  
'She prefers Dani to Danielle,' Alex explained to Hawkeye. Hawkeye grinned.  
  
'You two are so much alike,' he said.  
  
'Take it back,' Dani told him.  
  
'There are some major differences. She doesn't drink,' Alex said.  
  
'And she doesn't chase guys around as much,' Dani said with a gleam in her eyes. Alex rolled her eyes, and beckoned the bar maid.  
  
'Two martini's,' she said.  
  
'Water for me,' Dani added. When the bar maid returned, Dani frowned at Alex and Hawkeye. 'That stuff's poison,' she said.  
  
'Dani, Alex tells me you play poker,' Hawkeye started.  
  
'Yeah, what about it?' Dani asked carefully.  
  
'Hawkeye, save your money. She's the best in Korea. Learnt how to bluff from a friend who works in a casino, and has amazing luck,' Alex told him.  
  
'You're no fun,' pouted Dani. 'Anyway, I met this guy before, and I told him I'd see him tonight, so I'll leave you two alone.' Dani got up and left.  
  
'Nice kid,' Hawkeye said. 'Shouldn't be over here in the war though.'  
  
'She can look after herself. It's the war that has to watch out,' Alex replied, staring at her martini. 'We act like we hate each other, but deep down, we love each other, really.'  
  
'She seems. . . I dunno,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'Reckless?' Alex asked. 'Yeah, that's Dani. Doesn't think before she does something. She signed up because I told her about you guys,' Alex said. 'I signed up again, because I felt like I had to look after her, now Isaac's gone, I'm the eldest.'  
  
'Well,' Hawkeye looked at his watch, 'It's late and I need to get back to camp. Hopefully, you'll get transferred soon.' Hawkeye and Alex stood up, and Alex flung her arms around his neck before kissing him on the cheek.  
  
'It's good to see you again,' she whispered. 


	3. Back at the 4077

'Sir, new nurses,' Radar said to Colonel Potter.  
  
'Ah, the two who asked to be transferred here together. Shall I go out and meet them, or will you send them in?' Potter asked.  
  
'I'll go get them. You continue doing whatever you were doing, sir,' Radar said before leaving. He left the tent just as the jeep appeared around the corner. Two ginger haired nurses were sitting in the jeep, and hanging on tightly, as the driver brought the jeep recklessly to a halt in front of the mess tent. Radar went over, and smiled.  
  
'Radar!' Alex yelled, leaping out of the jeep.  
  
'I'm taking a chopper next time,' the girl beside her said as she followed her. Alex gave Radar a quick hug, and pointed to the girl beside her.  
  
'My sister, Dani,' she explained.  
  
'I thought so, you look a lot like each other,' Radar said. Dani and Alex glanced at each other, trying to think if they really looked so much alike. Suddenly, someone launched themselves onto Alex. Alex gave a half scream, and Dani started trying to pull whoever it was off of her. She stopped when she realised it was a man wearing a dress. Alex was laughing.  
  
'Klinger, you're squashing me! Get off!' she was saying.  
  
'Everyone's missed you a lot!' Klinger said, finally moving away a little.  
  
'Oh, this is the screwball who wants to go home,' Dani said in recognition.  
  
'Klinger, this is my kid sister, Dani. Dani, this is Klinger and Radar. And Klinger may want to go home, but he's no screwball,' Alex said firmly. 'You've got no manners at all.'  
  
'Uh, Alex? Colonel Potter would like to see you two in his tent,' Radar said.  
  
'But we haven't even blown anything up yet! Why does he want to see us?' Dani asked loudly.  
  
'I'll take your bags to the nurse's tent,' Klinger offered, taking the bags from the back of the jeep.  
  
'Thanks Klinger. I'll probably see you at lunch,' Alex yelled over her shoulder as they followed Radar to Potter's office. Both stood in front of his desk a few minutes later, and saluted.  
  
'You're the new nurses?' he asked from the report he was signing.  
  
'Yessir,' both of them replied.  
  
'You sisters or something?' he asked, looking up.  
  
'Yes,' Alex was saying, but Dani got a cruel look in her eye.  
  
'No, sir, Alex was left on our doorstep,' she said.  
  
'Dani! This isn't some new principal you're talking to! This guy could have you sent home with dishonors!' Alex hissed. Potter grinned to himself.  
  
'I take it you're lieutenant Alexia Dustin?' he asked Alex. Alex nodded. 'And you're lieutenant Danielle Dustin?' he asked Dani.  
  
'Yessir,' Dani said, standing up straight.  
  
'Well, Danielle, you may leave. I'd like to talk to Alexia,' Potter said. Dani shot Alex her "you're in trouble" look, saluted, and left.  
  
'Is there any reason you wanted to talk to me, sir?' Alex asked, feeling a little nervous.  
  
'I hear it's not your first time in Korea,' Potter said.  
  
'No sir. I was sent home on a hardship discharge by the last Colonel who was here,' Alex said, still standing straight, looking at one of the photo's of horses' above the Colonel's head.  
  
'And you took that scar home as a souvenir,' Potter said. Alex's hand flew up to her left check to hide the pale line running down her face. 'Sit down,' Potter said in a friendly voice. 'I ain't going to bite your head off, just want a chat.' Alex sat.  
  
'I see you like horses,' Alex said, nodding towards the back wall. Potter looked back over his shoulder.  
  
'Yes, started in the Calvary. Hooked on horse ever since. You like horses, Alexia?' Potter asked.  
  
'Just Alex, sir. And Danielle prefers to be called Dani,' Alex said. 'But yes, I like horses. Never had enough room at home to have one though.'  
  
'Pierce told me about you after he got back from Seoul last time. He seems to be quite fond of you, you know,' Potter said carefully, watching her. Alex blushed a little.  
  
'Uh, yes, I'm very fond of Hawkeye too,' she said.  
  
'I know what you two are doing. Don't try and pretend I don't, it's bad enough with Frank and Margaret,' Potter said. Alex grinned.  
  
'Yessir,' she said. 


	4. Home in the Swamp

'Hawkeye!' Alex hugged Hawkeye hard.  
  
'BJ, this is Alex. Alex, BJ Hunnicutt, my new partner in crime,' Hawkeye said as Alex let go.  
  
'Martini?' BJ asked.  
  
'You two sit down, I'll work the Still,' Alex said, pouring drinks. A few minutes later, she sat down after giving BJ and Hawkeye their martini's.  
  
'She makes them better than you, Hawk,' BJ joked as he drank deeply.  
  
'No I don't. Maybe you've let the gin sit there for a while longer than you do usually,' Alex said, sipping it quietly. 'Dani been around yet?'  
  
'No, but she was winking at Radar, maybe hoping for a date, or something,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'Wouldn't give Klinger a second look, though,' BJ grinned.  
  
'So, BJ, you married? Single? Divorced? Widowed? What?' Alex asked. 'If it was either of the last two, you don't have to tell me about it.'  
  
'Married, with a little girl called Erin,' BJ said, going through his pocket. He handed a small photo to Alex and she looked at it.  
  
'She's beautiful,' Alex said as she handed the photo back.  
  
'So, what's the word back home?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'Not much,' Alex said lazily. 'Nothing you wouldn't have already heard about.'  
  
'What about you? Are you married, or what?' BJ asked. Alex looked up sharply, a look of pure hatred in her eyes.  
  
'A guy once promised me marriage. He died and I found out he already had a fiancée. I haven't really looked around for another guy, but my mother keeps bugging me about it,' Alex said.  
  
'I thought you were over him,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'I am. Just annoys me when I think about him now. I gave him anything he wanted, and the. . . rat lied to me,' Alex said, spilling a little of her martini. Suddenly, the door to the Swamp opened. Frank came in and stopped halfway through the door.  
  
'YOU!' he yelled.  
  
'Hi, Frank,' Alex said.  
  
'Frank's an old flame of hers,' Hawkeye said to BJ.  
  
'He is not, I thought we've been through this,' Alex snapped.  
  
'What are you doing here?' Frank asked.  
  
'I got bored at home, decided I need to be almost blown up to make me feel not so bored,' Alex replied. Radar came bumbling into the tent behind Frank.  
  
'Uh, Alex? There's no room in the nurse's tent. We have to move either you or Dani somewhere else,' Radar said. He moved beside Alex and started whispering to Alex. 'Do you know your sister winked at me? She's got me really scared!' he hissed. Alex laughed.  
  
'Yeah, she'll do that. Tell her you're married, she'll leave you alone. Radar, leave Dani in there, and I'll come stay in the Swamp, if I'm allowed,' Alex said.  
  
'That's not allowed!' Frank yelled.  
  
'Unless Potter died, I don't think you have the right to say that, Frank,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'Unless you want me staying in Major Houlihan's tent, and believe me, I'll be spending a lot of time in there, there isn't anywhere else for me to stay,' Alex said, sitting back and watching Frank's face turn a little white. He turned and left, and Alex saluted his retreating back.  
  
'So, what did your parents say when you got home the first time?' BJ asked Alex.  
  
'Well, dad's dead, but my mom was happy to see me. Wouldn't leave me alone, carried on about me not eating enough in the army,' Alex gave Hawkeye a secretive look. 'But she was glad to see me. Thought she'd lose me after Isaac died. She was worried when Dani and I signed up again, but I told her we didn't get hit by bombs all that often.'  
  
'Where is Dani?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'Probably got some poor kid cornered somewhere in the supply room,' Alex said, closing her eyes blissfully.  
  
'Come on, we better go see the Colonel about your living arrangements,' BJ said, getting up from his cot.  
  
'Why bother? Frank will tell Margaret I'm staying in here, and she'll go see Potter, then he'll come see me. No need to get up,' Alex said, opening one green eye and looking up at BJ.  
  
'Lazy,' Hawkeye said, pulling her up. They left the Swamp, and halfway to the Colonel's office, Alex stopped.  
  
'Who owns the horse? Radar doesn't still have his little zoo, does he?' she asked, pointing to the brown mare in a rough pen.  
  
'Colonel Potter's. Radar gave it to him after we found it in the middle of no-where,' Hawkeye said. They went into the Colonel's office, and Potter looked up.  
  
'Yes?' he asked.  
  
'No room in the nurse's tent for me, and I'm asking permission to sleep in the Swamp,' Alex said, saluting. Potter glanced at Hawkeye. He knew what the surgeon was like.  
  
'I suppose you may stay there. Any misbehaving, and I'll send you to Major Houlihan's tent,' Potter said sternly, but he gave Alex a quick smile.  
  
'Thanks, sir,' Alex said. Suddenly, Margaret and Frank burst in.  
  
'Colonel, I will not allow one of my nurses sleep in a tent with HIM!' Margaret said, pointing at Hawkeye.  
  
'Major, not a lot can happen with BJ there, can it?' Potter asked.  
  
'Or Frank,' Hawkeye added.  
  
'And it's either the Swamp or your tent, Margaret,' Alex said. Margaret started protesting, Frank, Hawkeye and BJ were yelling, and Colonel Potter just sat there with all the noise around him. Suddenly, Dani came in, adding to the confusion.  
  
'Who's she?' Frank demanded.  
  
'I'm Dani. Alex's sister. She's told me about you. You're Ferret Face,' Dani said, sticking her tongue out. Hawkeye and BJ began to laugh, while Alex blushed. She pulled on Dani's arm and lead her to the outer office.  
  
'Danielle, don't mess with these people! They'll make your life a living hell,' Alex said.  
  
'Come on, Alex, it's just a little fun,' Dani said, grinning.  
  
'This is not school. You cannot treat the higher ranking officers like dirt, like you did your teachers, they will get you back for it. Do I make myself clear?' Alex growled.  
  
'Fine, I won't treat them like I do my teachers. But you have to let me have a little fun,' Dani complained.  
  
'Look, I'll introduce you to the enlisted men later, and you can clean them out in poker. You don't behave, and I'll tell the whole camp how good you are, and you won't be able to get a cent out of them,' Alex threatened.  
  
'Fine,' Dani said. 'You owe me, though.'  
  
'Hawkeye will invite you to do some pranks with us later, if you don't muck around,' Alex said. Dani's face light up. Hawkeye's pranks were somewhat of a legend to her.  
  
'Alright. And I'll even give you a ten percent cut of my winnings if you don't say a word,' Dani said. Alex nodded.  
  
'But there are a few I don't want you playing,' Alex replied. 'Come on, better get this all sorted out,' she said, nodding towards the office. She and Dani went in, where everyone was quiet.  
  
'Uh, Major Burns, Margaret, this is my little sister, Dani,' Alex said, trying to look cheerful. Dani grinned evilly at the two Majors.  
  
'Hello, Ferret Face, Hotlips,' she said, saluting politely. Alex kicked Dani in the leg, and Dani didn't say another word.  
  
'I don't want to hear another word about Alex's living arrangements, understood?' Potter asked. Everyone nodded and he waved them out the door. 'Those two kids are going to give me a hard time,' Potter said, looking through his desk drawers for his headache tablets. 


	5. Bet in the Mess tent

'So, who can I play?' Dani asked Alex.  
  
'Not Hawkeye, not BJ, not Radar, not Klinger, not the new Colonel, none of the nurses, except Major Houlihan, but anyone else is ok,' Alex said. They were in the mess tent, getting lunch.  
  
'What is this stuff?' Dani asked.  
  
'The green mush are peas, that's potatoes, these are hamburgers, I think, and that's the gravy over there,' Klinger said from behind the bench.  
  
'Yuk,' Dani said, sticking her tongue out in disgust.  
  
'Give us both a bit of everything, Klinger,' Alex said.  
  
'But look at it! If we were home, we wouldn't even feed that to the dog!' Dani said.  
  
'Trust me, you need your energy here. Best to eat as much as possible,' Klinger said, spooning something onto her tray. Alex led Dani away, to an empty table, and began eating.  
  
'Mom was right, they don't feed you right in the army,' Dani said unhappily, poking her food.  
  
'Eat,' Alex ordered, pointing at her tray with the fork. 'Trust me, if Hawkeye finds you're not eating, he'll make you eat.'  
  
'What will he do, force feed me?' Dani said sarcastically.  
  
'You'd be surprised,' Alex muttered as they both began to eating. Klinger finished his kitchen duty, and went to join them. Dani looked at him warily, but Klinger ignored her.  
  
'So what was it like being home again?' he asked Alex. 'Why did you come back?'  
  
'It's great being home again, but I don't look at anything in the same way, because of Isaac. She's the reason I joined up again,' Alex said, nodding towards Dani.  
  
'What did I do now?' she asked.  
  
'You had to sign up for the Korean war after reading my letters, and I didn't want you to get killed, so I joined to keep you out of trouble,' Alex explained.  
  
'You didn't have to come,' Dani said, staring into her tray, as if she thought staring hard enough would make it change into something edible. Alex shook her head.  
  
'So, tried much on the new Colonel?' Alex asked Klinger.  
  
'Yeah, but he's seen it all. Didn't even fall for gold dress,' Klinger said mournfully.  
  
'You'll get that section eight, don't worry,' Alex comforted.  
  
'Alex,' Dani poked her in the arm. 'The kid handing out the food, is he single?' Alex sighed.  
  
'Find out for yourself,' Alex snapped. Hawkeye and BJ came over. Dani fluttered her eyes at both of them, but she was ignored.  
  
'Hawkeye, BJ, you sort of know Danielle, or Dani. Dani, this is Hawkeye, and BJ,' Alex said.  
  
'Hi,' Dani said, staring meaningfully into BJ's eyes.  
  
'He's married, don't even think about it,' Alex said. Dani pouted and looked around.  
  
'Is there anyone around here worth getting to know?' she asked.  
  
'Everyone is worth getting to know!' Alex snapped.  
  
'No there isn't. They're all weirdo's, or taken,' Dani said moodily. Alex groaned and looked like she wanted to strangle Dani. Radar joined them, a mountain of food on his tray.  
  
'You can't eat all of that,' Dani said, looking at Radar.  
  
'I bet you ten bucks he can,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'You're on,' Dani said, shaking Hawkeye's hand. Radar lifted his fork, but stopped.  
  
'Oh no,' Alex said. 'He can hear them, can't he?'  
  
'Oh yes,' Radar said. He dropped his fork and began yelling. 'Choppers! Everyone! Choppers!'  
  
'I can't hear anything,' Dani complained as everyone got up.  
  
'Trust me, if Radar says there are choppers on their way, there are choppers on their way, usually with wounded,' Alex said, standing up quickly. Suddenly, there was a faint sound of helicopters in the distance. 


	6. First of the wounded

'Big load of wounded, coming in, folks,' the PA crackled.  
  
'Does this mean I win our bet?' Dani asked Hawkeye as Radar ran from the tent.  
  
'NO!' Alex growled, slapping her outstretched hand. 'Come on, we have to go help.' Alex pulled Dani from the tent, and ran to the landing pad. The choppers were just landing when they got there. Hawkeye and BJ arrived a few minutes later.  
  
'Alex, come help me with this guy. Dani, go with BJ,' Hawkeye instructed. Alex helped Hawkeye put the guy on a stretcher and take him to a waiting jeep. They picked up another two men, and took them back down to camp. Alex got out of the jeep and looked around for Dani. Her sister was coming down in another jeep beside BJ, with another three wounded on it, looking very pale.  
  
'You ok?' Alex asked, realizing that her sister wasn't coping very well. Dani nodded any way, and started to help BJ with the first injured man in the back. Everyone scrubbed up quickly, and within fifteen minutes, the doctors and nurses of the 4077th MASH were elbow deep in someone's insides.  
  
'How's everyone going?' Potter asked.  
  
'Great. This guy has enough metal in him to make a handy paperweight, for a twenty foot piece of paper,' Hawkeye replied.  
  
'Would you shut up! I'm doing something very difficult over here!' Frank snapped.  
  
'Trying to hold the knife up the right way again, right Frank?' BJ asked. Alex glanced up to wink at Hawkeye, but then noticed her sister.  
  
'Dani?' she asked. BJ looked up, as the nurse was working at his table. 'Dani, are you ok?' Alex asked again. Dani shook her head and ran out.  
  
'Need another nurse!' BJ yelled to Margaret.  
  
'This seems familiar,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'Yeah, I remember I ran out of surgery sick once. That was the last thing I heard when I ran out that door,' Alex said, mopping Hawkeye's sweaty brow. 'Danielle never had the stomach to become a nurse, or a vet. But she insisted. Had to follow my footsteps.' Alex paused. 'Isaac convinced her to be somewhat different to me, but encouraged her to complete her nursing course. He died a month before she did finished, and never got to see her graduate.'  
  
'Well, she shouldn't be out here, if she can't take the heat!' Frank snapped.  
  
'Margaret, how come I'm not allowed near your nurses, but Frank is allowed to insult them behind their backs? Or to their fronts?' Hawkeye asked. Margaret ignored him. 


	7. Stop the war, I want to get off

'I don't want to be in Korea anymore,' Dani said, six hours later.  
  
'Well, you're stuck here now, until the war ends,' Alex replied calmly, helping herself to the Still.  
  
'There's gotta be another way out,' Dani said.  
  
'Yeah, but you don't want to go home any of those ways,' BJ said.  
  
'Why, what is there?' Dani asked excitedly.  
  
'Section DA7, which I got home on,' Alex said, giving a martini glass to Hawkeye.  
  
'Isaac died. I'm still emotionally upset about that,' Dani said.  
  
'Won't work, he died before you joined,' Hawkeye said as Alex handed a martini to BJ.  
  
'The there's what Klinger's trying to go home on, a section eight,' Alex suggested, sitting down on the spare cot. 'Anyway, I told you in the first place that coming here wasn't the best idea.'  
  
'Don't rub it in,' Dani said grouchily. Alex rolled her eyes at Hawkeye.  
  
'Come on, Hawkeye's got a trick planned on Frank. You can stay and watch,' she said. Dani's face lit up as Frank began walking towards the tent.  
  
'Where's my stuff!' Frank yelled when he entered the Swamp.  
  
'What stuff?' Hawkeye asked innocently.  
  
'My stuff! You know, my belongings and photo's, and my cot, and everything else!' Frank said.  
  
'The Swamp has been like this for as long as we can remember,' BJ replied, staring up at Frank from his seat.  
  
'Actually, I remember seeing a Korean in here before, little kid, really thin looking. Left camp about an hour ago, not looking so thin any more,' Alex said.  
  
'I knew it'd be a thieving Korean!' Frank exploded as he ran out the Swamp door.  
  
'He seems a little anti-Korean,' Dani said.  
  
'Don't get Frank wrong, he isn't racist, just doesn't like anyone unless they're American,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'So where is Frank's stuff?' Alex asked.  
  
'Margaret's tent,' BJ grinned.  
  
'Where are her belongings?' Dani asked.  
  
'Rosie's bar,' Hawkeye replied.  
  
'Rosie's what?' Alex asked excitedly.  
  
'New place, Korean woman who runs a bar. It's alright, but the Still is free,' Hawkeye explained.  
  
'We'll go there after dinner,' Alex said. Dani made a face and stood up to leave. 'Where you going?' Alex demanded without opening her eyes.  
  
'For a look around,' Dani replied.  
  
'Don't get lost, killed or court marshaled. I told mom I'd get you back in one piece,' Alex said. Dani nodded and left.  
  
'Good kid. Shouldn't be nursing,' BJ said.  
  
'I know. But I told you before, she wouldn't do anything else,' Alex said. 


	8. Nurses, Move out!

It had been a week since Dani and Alex had arrived, and Colonel Potter called Hawkeye, BJ, Frank, Margaret, Radar, Alex and Dani into his office for an announcement.  
  
'I'm going to a meeting in Seoul, and I don't want any trouble while I'm gone. You lot, lay off the jokes, and Frank, I don't want anything military drills while I'm gone. Got it?' Potter barked.  
  
'We'll be as good as Radar's mice,' Alex saluted.  
  
'Dismissed,' Potter said, waving them out.  
  
'What's up with being good as Radar's mice? I want to have some fun while the Colonel's out,' Dani whined as she, Alex, Hawkeye and BJ left, while Radar organised some papers in his office and Frank and Margaret went into Post op.  
  
'Yeah, well, we're going to be as good as Radar's pet mice,' Alex said, heading for the Swamp.  
  
'What the Colonel doesn't know is we found one of them in BJ's breakfast this morning,' Hawkeye grinned. Dani laughed when she realised what this meant.  
  
'How about Frank finds one in his dinner tonight?' she suggested.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Incoming wounded to the compound. Everyone, up and at 'em!'  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'I didn't want that! I wanted a retractor!' Frank yelled.  
  
'Maybe, but you asked for a retractor,' Alex replied stiffly.  
  
'Don't you dare tell me what I asked for!' Frank fumed.  
  
'Look, Major. Under Major Houlihan, I'm the best nurse here. So unless you want my help, I'll be working with the second best doctor,' Alex said, leaving Frank's table.  
  
'Since I'm the worst nurse, does that mean I have to go work at his table?' Dani asked. Hawkeye grinned under his mask as Alex went to BJ's table to take over from her sister. Radar suddenly rushed into the room, holding a mask over his face.  
  
'We just got orders from HQ. All nurses have to move out for safety reasons. Some of the enemy has got past the front line, and they want the nurses to move back,' Radar said. Alex glanced around. She had never been moved out like this before, although she'd heard of it.  
  
'When do we have to be out of camp?' Margaret asked.  
  
'By oh eight hundred hours tomorrow,' Radar replied.  
  
'Thanks, Radar. Can you give me a little suction here?' Hawkeye said.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
Alex was in the Swamp alone, packing up her gear and swiping some of the gin from the Still. There was a knock at the door, and Alex glanced over her shoulder.  
  
'Come in,' she called to Margaret.  
  
'This is your first time moving out, right?' Margaret asked.  
  
'Yeah,' Alex said, putting the top on a gin filled flask.  
  
'I don't want you or your sister running off and doing anything stupid, alright?' Margaret said.  
  
'That sounds like an order,' Alex said mildly, glancing around the tent for a sock she had misplaced.  
  
'Well, it can be very dangerous. You don't want the enemy capturing you,' Margaret said.  
  
'I know that, Margaret, I've been captured before. I realise it mightn't work out the same way as it did last time,' Alex said unemotionally, tracing her scar with a finger.  
  
'I'm sorry,' Margaret said, realizing how stupid she'd been. 'I should have known.'  
  
'It's ok Margaret, no harm done,' Alex replied, diving on the sock that was poking out of the pages of a dirty magazine of Hawkeye's.  
  
'Alex,' Margaret asked. 'Do the enemy rape female hostages?' Alex tensed up a little.  
  
'Why ask me?' she asked, shrugging.  
  
'Well, you have been captured before,' Margaret said. Alex didn't answer for a minute.  
  
'Sometimes,' she said eventually, rolling the sock up with it's pair.  
  
'Did they rape you?' Margaret asked. Alex took longer to answer this time. Finally, after a while, she replied.  
  
'Yes.' 


	9. Flagg

Hawkeye, BJ and most of the men working at the 4077th watched the military trucks pull away with the nurses inside them.  
  
'I'll miss them,' Hawkeye said, wiping a pretend tear away.  
  
'Bah, they were no fun that lot,' Alex said, coming up beside him.  
  
'Alex?' Hawkeye and BJ asked at the same time.  
  
'I told Hotlips I was staying here. I'm not living in the nurses quarters, so technically, I'm not a nurse. She wasn't happy,' Alex explained.  
  
'You should be with the other nurses,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'I've never been in a move out before, I'm not going to be in one now,' Alex said, crossing her arms. Hawkeye and BJ laughed.  
  
'Frank's not going to be impressed,' BJ said.  
  
'So?'  
  
'He'll order you to move out,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'Like to see him try,' Alex said, a grim smile on her face.  
  
'Alex, what's up?' BJ asked. Alex looked up and gave him a proper smile.  
  
'Nothing,' she said. She headed towards the Swamp.  
  
'She seems a little uptight,' BJ commented.  
  
'You know the scar on her cheek? She was captured. I think that might have something to do with it,' Hawkeye said. 'We'd better leave her alone, though.' BJ nodded and they followed her to the Swamp.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'What are you doing here? Nurses were told to retreat!' Frank said when he walked into the Swamp.  
  
'I've decided I'm not a nurse. I'm now a person in the wrong place at the wrong time,' Alex said.  
  
'I order you to retreat with the other nurses!' Frank yelled.  
  
'Make me,' Alex said, standing up and spilling her martini a little.  
  
'What's going on here?' Potter asked.  
  
'You're back, Colonel,' Hawkeye said mildly.  
  
'Yes, and I want to know what all this yelling is all about,' Potter said.  
  
'The nurses were asked to retreat, and lieutenant Dustin stayed behind,' Frank said.  
  
'Tattle tale,' Hawkeye muttered loudly.  
  
'If we were asked, then that means we had a choice. And I choose to stay here,' Alex said.  
  
'Alright, you can stay. It'll be too hard to move you back now anyhow,' Potter said. Alex grinned evilly at Frank as Potter turned to go back outside. Frank stomped a foot and followed the Colonel out. Alex sat down again and the three began laughing.  
  
'I like Potter. I can get away with anything,' she said.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Why would someone stay behind when there's a chance of the enemy attacking?' Flagg mused to himself. Hawkeye, BJ and Alex walked into the officer's club.  
  
'Oh no,' Alex said, turning to walk out again.  
  
'Lieutenant Dustin, I'd like to speak with you,' Flagg called.  
  
'You know him?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'He won't leave me alone, ever since I refused to take the section DA7 to go home after the first time,' Alex whispered. 'He tried to make a move on me once, I threatened to shoot him if he came within fifty yards of me again.'  
  
'It'd do us all a favour if you did,' Hawkeye muttered.  
  
'Why are you staying here? Are you going to try and get a message to the communists?' Flagg demanded.  
  
'I'm not a communist. Haven't we talked about this before? I think it ended in me pointing a handgun at your head,' Alex said angrily.  
  
'Who's your commander? With that information, I can put a whole stop to this,' Flagg said.  
  
'Colonel Potter is my commander, you better go talk to him,' Alex said, sitting down. 'Three martini's, please.'  
  
'Don't try and kid me! You're working for a North Korean!' Flagg spat.  
  
'I never knew Potter was a North Korean, did you?' Hawkeye asked BJ.  
  
'No, the thought never crossed my mind,' BJ replied as the martini's were delivered.  
  
'Why are you still in Korea?' Flagg asked. Alex stood up and threw her martini at Flagg.  
  
'Because I thought you'd followed me to the states,' Alex yelled as she left. BJ followed her while Hawkeye talked to Flagg.  
  
'She's here because her sister is here,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'Why is her sister here?' Flagg demanded.  
  
'Because she thought it'd be fun,' Hawkeye said. 'And she was in Korea before because her brother was over here.'  
  
'Interesting. Where is her brother?' Flagg asked.  
  
'He died,' Hawkeye said, getting irritated.  
  
'Likely story,' Flagg said. Hawkeye almost did a repeat of what Alex had just done and went to find her and BJ.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Are you ok?' BJ asked.  
  
'That creep didn't follow us, did he?' Alex asked.  
  
'Hawkeye? No, he's still inside, talking to Flagg,' BJ joked.  
  
'He tried to kiss me, you know that? He's disgusting, like a cockroach. I wish he'd leave me alone. The only reason he accuses me of being a communist is because I wouldn't have anything to do with him. Stupid idiot,' Alex muttered.  
  
'You know, you wasted a perfectly good martini in there,' BJ said.  
  
'It was put to good use. Martini's are hard to wash the smell out. People will just think his ramblings are due to drunkenness,' Alex replied moodily. Hawkeye came out.  
  
'We can get rid of him, if you want,' he said. Alex glanced up at Hawkeye.  
  
'Would you do that for me?' she asked.  
  
'Of course. We hate him. Why would we want him to stick around anyway?' BJ asked. Alex smiled.  
  
'You two are idiots,' she said fondly. 


	10. Nothing to worry about

'You work quick,' Alex said as they witnessed Flagg driving away in a jeep as fast as he could.  
  
'He got word that there were communists in North Korea,' Hawkeye said. 'We had nothing to do with it.' Alex shook her head. Everyone knew Flagg was leaving because the bombing had started up properly. Turned out Flagg was a yellowed bellied, patriotic spy.  
  
'Celebration martini?' BJ asked.  
  
'Sure,' the other two said at the same time. Alex grinned as BJ tipped gin into her glass ten minutes later, and she sipped deeply.  
  
'Ah, fountain of youth,' she sighed. Radar ran past, and saw the three resting in there.  
  
'Sirs, and ma'am, incoming wounded,' he said through the canvas before running off again. The three of them groaned.  
  
'It's getting so you can't even sit down to enjoy a martini now days,' Hawkeye fumed.  
  
'Come on, just be thankful we don't have Flagg behind us, telling us not to operate on someone because he might be a communist or a commie sympathizer,' Alex said, putting her glass down. A quarter of an hour later, they were scrubbed and working elbow deep in soldiers insides.  
  
'Game of golf later on, Beej?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'If I'm not too tired,' BJ replied two tables away.  
  
'Not fair, you know I'm no good at golf. It's the only reason you play it,' Alex complained.  
  
'Will you keep it down!' Frank yelled. Alex rolled her eyes. She was working at Frank's table so he wouldn't lose too many lives.  
  
'Will you calm down, Major, you're cutting crooked,' Alex said.  
  
'I thought he always cut crookedly,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'Simmer down,' Potter said through the snickers of the people in the operating room.  
  
'I wish the other nurses would come back,' BJ said, sweat trickling down his brow. Alex walked over quickly and mopped his head. 'Thanks,' BJ nodded to Alex. She peered over at the patient.  
  
'Bad case,' she said.  
  
'Nothing we can't handle,' Potter said, who was helping BJ. Hawkeye swore loudly were he was, and Alex ran over.  
  
'What happened?' she asked.  
  
'I need to clamp this, but can't in case I lose this bit of shrapnel. It's the third time I've tried to get it out,' Hawkeye replied. Alex picked up the clamp and assisted Hawkeye with his case until Frank seemed to be having trouble.  
  
'Nurse!' he yelled frantically. Alex considered ignoring him, but it wasn't the person's he was operating on fault. After about seven hours of operating, Alex, Hawkeye and BJ were tired.  
  
'Hey, do me a favour,' Alex said as she collapsed on her cot, not bothering to take her surgical gown off.  
  
'What?' Hawkeye asked from the opposite end of the tent.  
  
'Don't tell Dani about Flagg. It's bad enough he thinks I'm a commie, I don't need her laughing about it,' Alex said. Then, she fell asleep.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Alex,' Radar nudged the sleeping nurse.  
  
'Uhhh. . .?' moaned Alex, her head buried in her pillow.  
  
'The other nurses are back. You asked me to tell you,' Radar said.  
  
'Mmm?' Alex rolled over and opened her eyes. 'Oh, thanks Radar. Can you get Dani to come here, please?' Radar nodded as Alex shut her eyes again and ran out. Dani came in minutes later.  
  
'What?' Dani asked.  
  
'Remind me next time the nurses are moving out to come with you. It's too much trouble staying here,' Alex said.  
  
'Right,' Dani said. 'You look really tired. I'll be going to the nurses tent now.' Alex nodded.  
  
'Good, get some sleep. Radar said we were expecting more wounded,' Alex muttered before falling asleep again.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Morning!' Klinger said cheerfully as Alex sat down opposite him.  
  
'Hey, Klinger,' Alex said. She took a mouthful of coffee before spitting it out. 'I'm guessing you made the coffee this morning,' she asked.  
  
'How'd you know?' Klinger asked.  
  
'You use too much coffee mix,' Alex grinned. Klinger grinned back sheepishly. 'Anyway, you seen Dani around?'  
  
'Nah, I saw her last night when the nurses came back, but you know her, she tries to avoid me,' Klinger said.  
  
'I don't know why,' Alex said with a smile, eyeing Klinger's floral dress. Potter came and sat beside them.  
  
'I'd like to see you in my office later on, Alex,' Potter said.  
  
'Alright,' Alex said, eating her breakfast calmly.  
  
'Oh, and Klinger? Nice dress,' Potter said. Klinger glared down at his tray, and Alex had to hide a laugh. Obviously he was annoyed at not getting a section eight the second Potter had seen him. He got up and went outside.  
  
'What do you need to see me about, Colonel?' Alex asked.  
  
'I'd rather not talk about it here,' Potter said. Alex nodded and continued eating. 'I'll get Radar to come get you,' he said as he also stood up to leave. Alex nodded and looked around. She saw Hawkeye and Dani sitting close together and a shot of jealously hit her. Hawkeye was laughing at something that Dani had just said, and it hurt her. Alex stood up and left. She bumped into BJ outside the showers.  
  
'What's up?' he asked, seeing the expression on Alex's face.  
  
'Nothing,' Alex lied. BJ just stood there, staring at her. 'OK, it's something,' Alex said.  
  
'Want to talk about it?' BJ asked. Alex nodded.  
  
'It helps to talk,' she said, remembering last time she was at the 4077. They went to the motor pool, and sat in one of the jeeps.  
  
'What's wrong?' BJ asked.  
  
'It's stupid, really, but I saw Hawkeye laughing at Dani before. No, no at her, with her. I turned green a little, but it's nothing,' Alex shrugged.  
  
'You don't seem like the jealous type,' BJ said.  
  
'I'm not, usually, except when it comes to Dani. She's better at everything than me. Better at cards, better at men. If I had a boyfriend, she's usually steal him from me if she like him. Even when she didn't like him. I don't want it to happen again,' Alex explained.  
  
'I think that's fair enough. But I've heard Hawk talk about you. He adores you. If he weren't afraid of commitment right now, he'd probably marry you on the spot,' BJ said, making Alex laugh.  
  
'You're a great guy, BJ,' she said. 'And you're right. I've got nothing to worry about.' 


	11. Something to worry about

'What did you need to talk to me about?' Alex asked the Colonel. He had finally called for Alex during the night's movie. 'It's about Klinger, right? I know, I talk to him, I know him best, and you're right, he's not crazy, but don't tell him I said that because. . . it's not about Klinger, is it?' Alex said. Potter shook his head.  
  
'Sit down, Alexia,' Potter said.  
  
'Alex,' Alex said automatically. 'Sorry,' she said when she realised she had just corrected him.  
  
'I need to talk to you about Hawkeye and Dani,' Potter said. Alex left Potter's office fifteen minutes later, in a daze. Her suspicions that she had shared with BJ before were true? She walked around, and went into the supply room. Hawkeye and Dani were there, Hawkeye leaning over her sister carefully.  
  
'How could you?' Alex yelled and she ran out. Both Hawkeye and Dani jumped and saw Alex running away.  
  
'Oh no,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'I'll go find her,' Dani offered, going out the door after Alex. She looked around frantically. Where could she be?  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
Alex was in the Swamp, drinking martini's quickly, hoping the alcohol would help her make her forget she had a sister. The gin was starting to effect, three martini's and ten minutes later. The glass slipped out of her hand, spilling gin and smashing the glass. Alex bent down to pick up the pieces. Suddenly, she realised the glass she was picking up was cutting into her fingers, and was spilling out blood. Alex swore and dropped the glass shards, and left the Swamp to go to the operating room.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
Dani spotted Alex stumbling away from the tent, and ran to catch up to her.  
  
'Alex,' she said.  
  
'Go away,' Alex slurred. 'How could you keep it from everyone?'  
  
'BJ knew,' Dani started, but it was the wrong thing to say.  
  
'He was in on it?' Alex began crying heavily. She tripped on a rock. She fell on the ground, and Dani helped her up.  
  
'Your hands are all cut up!' Dani said, almost fearfully.  
  
'What do you care?' Alex asked before pulling away and going into the operating tent. Dani followed her and found her trying to wrap a bandage around her hands clumsily. Dani took the bandage from her, and fixed it up.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Pierce, Hunnicutt, Dustin and Dustin, you four go get a jeep. They need help at the 8063rd,' Potter said, coming up to the table. Hawkeye, BJ and Dani got up quickly, but Alex glanced between Klinger beside her and the three standing up.  
  
'Do I have to go? Maybe someone could fill in for me,' she suggested.  
  
'No,' Potter said firmly. 'I want you four there, not anyone else.' Alex sighed and also stood up. She followed Hawkeye, BJ and Dani outside, who were all laughing at something, and got into the jeep that Radar had just brought around. She got into the back as Hawkeye and BJ bickered over who would drive. BJ eventually won, and Hawkeye got in the back with Alex, allowing Dani to sit in the front. The nurse refused to talk, remembering the hurt feeling she had when she found out Hawkeye was cheating on her with Dani. It would have been different if he had told her. BJ at least could have told her it was going on, if he knew. The silence from Alex didn't worry BJ, Hawkeye and Dani, who continued talking loudly, and almost forgetting she was there. Suddenly, there was an explosion on the road, and BJ stopped the jeep.  
  
'Get off the road!' he yelled. There was a mad scramble to get out of the jeep, and Alex suddenly realised that although she could see BJ and Hawkeye, she couldn't find her sister.  
  
'Where's Dani?' Alex yelled to Hawkeye.  
  
'I don't know. Come on,' Hawkeye yelled back. He went over to her, and began leading her away to where an abandoned fox hole lay. It were overgrown with grass, and crumbly in some places.  
  
'I'll look for Dani,' Hawkeye said as he helped Alex down.  
  
'Because you like her?' Alex spat. The warm feeling she was getting from Hawkeye helping her suddenly faded and was replaced by anger.  
  
'No, because I love you,' Hawkeye replied before disappearing. Alex was speechless for a couple of seconds as BJ blundered into the fox hole.  
  
'Where are the other two?' he asked.  
  
'Hawkeye went looking for Dani,' Alex replied, still a little dazed. BJ swore, and made to climb out of the fox hole. Alex pulled him back.  
  
'What are you doing? They could be hurt!' BJ said over the explosions.  
  
'They'll be alright,' Alex said, not really believing it herself. Suddenly, out of the flying dust, she could see Hawkeye helping Dani along. He half threw the younger girl into the fox hole on top of BJ and jumped in himself as a bomb narrowly missed them.  
  
'She's been hit,' Hawkeye panted. Alex suddenly whipped around, and went to Dani, who was being helped into a lying position by BJ. Her shirt was soaked with blood, and she was groaning, holding her arm. Blood was coming from a gash in her head, the cut on her arm, and a little bit of watery blood was coming out of the corner of her mouth.  
  
'Dani, talk to me!' Alex found she was crying as she shook her sister.  
  
'Alex, stop,' BJ tried to pull her away gently, but Alex shrugged him off.  
  
'Dani! You are going to survive, don't you even think about dying!' Alex said, tears falling onto the younger nurse. Hawkeye grabbed Alex by the shoulders and ripped her away roughly. Alex turned and started crying into Hawkeye's chest. 


	12. Getting Dani out and the identical Major

'Well, concussion, and some minor wounds, but she'll be ok,' Potter said, standing up.  
  
'What about the 8063rd? They get the help they needed?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'They ended up helping themselves and only just bothered sending back word just before,' Potter said in an annoyed voice. 'Anyway, I'll leave you and her alone.' Alex nodded as Potter and Hawkeye left the bedside.  
  
'Dani, are you ok?' Alex asked. Dani looked up. Her sister's face was streaked with dust, tears and dry blood.  
  
'I'm still not exactly sure what happened,' she said faintly.  
  
'You were caught in a bomb blast, got a cut in your head, and your arm. Hawkeye brought you to the fox hole we found. As soon as we could, we brought you back here and had you fixed up,' Alex replied.  
  
'Who operated on me?' Dani asked.  
  
'Margaret and Potter. I played the Blood Bank,' Alex told her. Dani noticed the small white Band-Aid on Alex's forearm.  
  
'Did BJ or Hawkeye explain what happened the other day?' Dani asked nervously.  
  
'Yeah,' Alex looked embarrassed. 'But Potter had suspicions which he shared with me, and it made me jump to conclusions.'  
  
'We'll tell you if I get something in my eye next time,' Dani said.  
  
'I don't want you to be in Korea any more, not with the war on. It's too dangerous. We're going to get you home, somehow,' Alex said after a little while.  
  
'Alex, it's only a couple of scratches. I'll be fine,' Dani said. Outside the tent, there was the sound of feet. Alex groaned.  
  
'Please not more wounded,' she said. Frank, and Hawkeye came into Post op, followed by Klinger and BJ hauling a stretcher with a soldier on it, with red hair.  
  
'I'm not going to operate on him!' Frank shouted.  
  
'He doesn't want anyone else to operate on him! What else can we do?' Hawkeye yelled back. BJ glanced over to the two Dustin girls, almost begging Alex to come over.  
  
'What's wrong?' Alex asked, standing up. Dani tried to sit up, but Alex gave her a look to tell her to sit still.  
  
'This guy just came in and asked for Major Burns to operate on him. Didn't want anyone else to,' Klinger began.  
  
'Frank's refusing,' BJ added, almost unnecessarily.  
  
'Why are you refusing to operate on him if he needs help? He's American, isn't he? He's on our side, isn't he?' Alex demanded.  
  
'A very patriotic American soldier at that, your favourite sort, Frank. This guy refused to stop fighting when he was badly injured a few days ago, that's why it's so bad now,' Hawkeye said. 'Look, he's even a Major like you! You don't have to worry about operating on lower personnel scum!'  
  
'I'm not operating on him!' Frank said, folding his arms.  
  
'Why?' Alex said, moving around Frank so she could see him better. The soldier in the stretcher was about twenty five, and his eyes were hazel in colour. Through the dirt and grime on his face, Alex could just see red freckles.  
  
'Do you know what this man is?' Frank asked loudly, pointing at the startled man. 'He is a homosexual! A queer!'  
  
'So was Isaac!' Alex yelled as loud as she could after a moment's shocked silence. Suddenly, she realised what she said, turned, and ran from the tent. Hawkeye, BJ, Frank and Klinger turned to Dani.  
  
'Don't look at me, I'm not saying anything,' she said, before throwing her blanket over her head.  
  
'Look, Doctor Hunnicutt here is willing to operate on you, even if Frank isn't,' Hawkeye said, glaring at Frank when he said it. He nodded to BJ, and ran out after Alex. Hawkeye looked around after going outside, he had no idea where he could find Alex If she didn't want to be found, usually no one could find her. He stopped on of the nurses going past.  
  
'Did you see where Alex went?' he asked.  
  
'I saw her going into the showers,' the nurse replied. 'She looked really upset about something.' Hawkeye thanked the nurse and headed towards the showers. He opened the door, and looked in the first stall.  
  
'Someone's in here, if you don't mind,' Alex said, half joking, half annoyed.  
  
'Are you ok?' Hawkeye yelled, sitting on the ground on the shower beside Alex.  
  
'Seeing that soldier, he's so much like Isaac, it's not funny. A Major, red hair, about the right age, too. It was just a little too much when I found out he was a little different to most men,' Alex said.  
  
'Well, the good news is, BJ is going to operate on him. Frank doesn't have to go near him,' Hawkeye comforted. Alex sniffed.  
  
'I want Dani to go home. I don't care how, but she has to get back to the States,' Alex said.  
  
'We'll ask Colonel Potter. He might have some ideas on how to get her home without breaking army rules,' Hawkeye said. Alex nodded.  
  
'Did you have any idea about Isaac?' Alex asked after a little while.  
  
'No, it's very well kept secret to be kept secret this long,' Hawkeye replied.  
  
'It's why the doctors at the MASH unit wouldn't operate on him. He died because they refused to help him,' Alex told Hawkeye. She stood up. 'I need a martini,' she said.  
  
'I'll come too,' Hawkeye said, also standing up. They went to the Swamp together, and Alex collapsed onto her cot. Hawkeye poured her a glass of gin, and handed it to her. Alex swallowed a mouthful quickly, and stared up at the Swamp tent roof.  
  
'When will the war be over, Hawkeye?' she asked.  
  
'I don't know. Tomorrow. The day after. The day after that. Hopefully soon,' Hawkeye replied. He was watching Alex carefully, she was quick to run off usually.  
  
'Can we go see Potter now? The sooner Dani's home, the better I'll feel,' Alex said, getting up again. Hawkeye sighed, but got up too.  
  
'Alright,' he said, following Alex out of the Swamp.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'No, I can't think of anything to get your sister out of the army the way you want to,' Colonel Potter said, sitting behind his desk.  
  
'Give her a section eight, anything,' Alex pleaded.  
  
'Look, I'd love to, but I can't,' Potter said. 'That's that.' Hawkeye pulled Alex out of the office before she could argue.  
  
'I think it's time you and your sister met Sidney Freedman,' he said.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Ok, I understand. I suppose I could come down, and help,' Sidney said on the phone.  
  
'Thanks, Sidney, I knew you'd help,' Hawkeye said on the other end.  
  
'I owe you big time,' a female's voice added in the background, which Sidney assumed must have been Alex. Sidney put the receiver down, and walked out of the room. Hawkeye had explained the situation to him carefully, and asked him to be in their little scheme. Sidney felt it wouldn't be right to refuse, the girl Hawkeye had described had her whole life in front of her, and her older sister didn't want it taken from her. It was fair that he help.  
  
Meanwhile, at the other end of the line at the 4077, Alex began pacing the outer office.  
  
'You sure we can trust him?' she asked Hawkeye for the sixth time.  
  
'Sidney's a great psychiatrist. Helped hundreds of people all over the war, managed to get some sent home too.' Hawkeye replied. 'He'll help us get Dani sent home.'  
  
'What about Ferret Face?'  
  
'What about him?'  
  
'Won't he have something to say about this all?' Alex stopped pacing and sat on Radar's bed after moving his teddy bear out of the way.  
  
'Usually, yes, but we'll get him out of the way while Sidney's here,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'Thanks, Hawkeye,' Alex said gratefully. They walked into Post op, where Klinger and another corps man were holding a stretcher with the red haired man on it again. Frank was standing there, trying to get them to move him to the bed closest to the outside door.  
  
'That's an order!' Frank told Klinger and the other man.  
  
'Yeah, well I want him in the bed beside me,' Dani was saying.  
  
'What's going on now?' Alex sighed.  
  
'Frank's moving the Major to the coldest part of the tent,' Dani said quickly.  
  
'Lieutenant Dustin wants to have him beside her,' Frank said.  
  
'Why can't the Major go there?' Hawkeye asked, pointing to the cot beside Dani.  
  
'Because I said so,' Frank replied. Hawkeye groaned quietly, and motioned Klinger to put the red haired Major on the cot beside Dani.  
  
'Frank, it doesn't matter where he stays, he's there now,' Alex said.  
  
'I'm the superior officer here!' Frank yelled in a high pitched voice as Dani stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
'Together, we make a higher ranking one,' Dani said as Klinger and the other man left gratefully. Frank stormed out, probably to go complain to Margaret as BJ came in.  
  
'He wasn't too bad, should be back in the war in about a week,' he said, pointing to the Major asleep on the cot. 'Major Davids his name is.' Alex and Dani both shuddered involuntary.  
  
'Even the last name is similar,' Alex said.  
  
'If this was some cheap war story, he'd really be our brother, who hadn't really died, but had his identity stolen, or something,' Dani added.  
  
'Yeah, well it isn't,' Hawkeye reminded them. 


	13. Sidney Freedman

'Come on, Dustbin, show us what you got. All rubbish, right?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'Nope. Full house,' Dani said, showing Hawkeye, BJ, Alex and Major Davids her cards.  
  
'Damn!' Hawkeye said, slamming his cards onto the table. Dani laughed and pulled the money towards her.  
  
'I told you not to mess with her, she never has to bluff,' Alex said to Hawkeye.  
  
'I know, but it was the best hand I'd got all game. I thought I had her,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'I've never met anyone who could play cards like you,' Davids said enviously.  
  
'I bet you've never met anyone like us, either,' Alex said as Dani dealt the next hand.  
  
'It's so casual here. . . doesn't anyone mind us playing cards like this?' Davids asked.  
  
'Just Frank, the guy who wouldn't operate on you,' BJ said. Davids turned to Alex.  
  
'Just curious, who is, or was, Isaac. You mentioned him when that doctor refused to operate on me,' he asked.  
  
'Our brother. He died a while back,' Alex said shortly. Davids nodded, and they all looked at their cards quietly for a while. Halfway through that hand, Sidney Freedman walked in.  
  
'Be with you in a second, Sidney,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'I'll just watch until the next hand then,' Sidney replied, looking over his shoulder to see what Hawkeye had.  
  
'HA!' Alex slammed her cards onto the table. 'Four of a kind beats your pair, Dani!'  
  
'That's the first time I've seen her lose,' BJ commented. Alex leant over the small card table to shake Sidney's hand.  
  
'I'm Alex, and that is Dani,' she said. Sidney nodded as he looked over them.  
  
'Well, it's a little late to be doing anything now. Deal me in this round,' he said.  
  
'You realise, Dani, Klinger will hate you if you get out of the army before he does,' Alex said as she picked up her next hand.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Tell me, Dani, how do you feel about the war?' Sidney asked.  
  
'The war? I thought it was a fancy dress party,' Dani said. 'No, Hawkeye told me to say that if you asked about the war.'  
  
'You enjoy Hawkeye's company?' Sidney asked.  
  
'Great guy. Alex adores him. She's the reason I know him. She came over to Korea last year, and was sent home. She told me all about the people here, so I signed up for the laughs she had. She never told me it was a living hell hole,' Dani said.  
  
'You came over because your sister told you all the good things about it, not the bad?' Sidney asked.  
  
'Yeah, I was thinking of suing the army for brining me here under false advertising,' Dani said.  
  
'Why do you want to go home?' Sidney said after writing something on his notebook.  
  
'Alex wants me to go home. We lost Isaac a while back, our brother, and she doesn't want to be an only child. She doesn't want me dead,' Dani shrugged.  
  
'But do you want to go home?'  
  
'Yes, I can't handle Korea. I can't handle the war. Heck, I can't even handle nursing.'  
  
'What do you think you would do when you go home, if you don't want to do nursing?' Sidney said interestedly.  
  
'I'd like to become a decorator. Fix up people's houses, splash colour around everywhere, except red or green. I can't stand those two colours any more,' Dani said. Sidney smiled a little.  
  
'How do you feel about Isaac's death?' he asked her.  
  
"Well, bad I suppose. I'm over the most of the grief, I guess, but it still sucks,' Dani replied. Sidney smiled again at how Dani put things. 'Anyway, Hawkeye reckons you can get me home. That's why you're here,' Dani said.  
  
'Yes, it is. I'm going to tell Colonel Potter that you're not fit to be in nursing, not mentally, anyway,' Sidney said. Dani grinned.  
  
'Good,' she said. 'I can't stand to see any more kids younger than me die.'  
  
'Younger than you?' Sidney asked.  
  
'One guy came in, fractured skull. Died within two hours of being operated on. I helped, and I somehow feel it was my fault he died,' Dani explained.  
  
'That's not true,' Sidney told her.  
  
'Everyone says that, but it's harder when you helped the doctors operate on a guy,' Dani said.  
  
'What makes you think some of the soldiers here are younger than you?' Sidney asked.  
  
'Because they are. Someone I knew through family was in here a while back, and he was younger than me. Told me he had friends that lied about their age to join. So there are a lot of them,' Dani said.  
  
'What's been hardest on you during this war?' Sidney asked.  
  
'Davids, the man we were playing poker with last night. Just like Isaac, my brother. Same age, same looks, same height, almost the same name and personality. It's just too weird,' Dani said.  
  
'Well, thanks for letting me talk with you,' Sidney said, standing up.  
  
'Thanks for agreeing to get me out of here,' Dani replied, leaning over and shaking his hand. Sidney left and headed for the Swamp, where Alex, BJ and Hawkeye were drinking martinis.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'You sure that'll work?' Alex asked.  
  
'Positive,' Sidney confirmed.  
  
'Hawkeye, do you think we should? What if we're caught? I don't want you to get in trouble, Sidney,' Alex said, suddenly worried.  
  
'Come on, we'll go talk to Dani and Colonel Potter,' Hawkeye said, hooking his arm through hers.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'So you believe she shouldn't be in the army, huh?' Potter asked.  
  
'No sir,' Sidney replied. 'She is mentally unfit to be a nurse, especially in these circumstances, and she is still not fully over her brother. One of the boys you just fixed up, Davids I think his name was, she thinks he's her brother.'  
  
'Hmmm.' There was a twinkle in Potter's eye. 'Radar?' Radar ducked quickly into the office.  
  
'Get Lieutenant Alex Dustin, yes sir,' Radar said before the Colonel got a chance to say anything.  
  
'Quite remarkable, that boy,' Sidney observed.  
  
'Maybe, but it gets just a little annoying sometimes,' Colonel Potter muttered loudly. Alex came in a few minutes later.  
  
'Colonel Potter, you wanted to see me?' Alex asked.  
  
'The boy in Post op, Davids, is he in anyway like your brother?' Potter asked.  
  
'No, sir,' Alex replied.  
  
'Does Danielle think he's your brother?'  
  
'Yes, sir,' Alex replied again.  
  
'I know what you're doing,' Potter said.  
  
'I have no idea what you're talking about, sir,' Alex said, trying to hide her nervousness.  
  
'You call me "sir" every time you want something,' Potter said. 'I'll send her home, if you want her sent back stateside so much.' Alex's face split into a smile.  
  
'Really?' she asked. Potter nodded. 'Thank you, sir,' she said.  
  
'You also call me "sir" after you've gotten your own way,' the Colonel smiled as Alex skipped out. 


	14. A goodbye and a party

Author's note: I'll keep updating every now and again on this, in case anyone is still reading it. It's not as good as "Alex" (which I apologise for) so I'll try to finish it up pretty soon.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Alex, what am I going to tell Mom when I get home? I can't tell her you're still over here!' Dani said when she got the news.  
  
'Dani, you're going home and that's that. You said so yourself on the second day you wanted to go home, and I need to protect you. Go home and do something you want to do with your life,' Alex said.  
  
'I just want one last thing,' Dani said.  
  
'She wants one last thing!' Potter muttered half annoyed, half amused to himself.  
  
'Just let me stay for another week. It's all I want,' Dani pleaded.  
  
'One week isn't a lot. Will you let her stay? Not as a nurse, but as a guest?' Alex asked.  
  
'Alright. Any mischief between now and then, and you're in trouble,' Potter warned. He walked off, but Dani pulled on Alex's sleeve before she got a chance to leave.  
  
'Can you go get BJ and Hawkeye for me? I want to tell them that I get to stay another week,' Dani said. Alex nodded. Dani was only alone for about ten minutes before the two surgeons came in.  
  
'You called?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'I'm staying another week,' Dani told them.  
  
'I thought Alex wants you outta here as soon as possible,' BJ asked.  
  
'She does, but she's forgotten what day it is next Wednesday,' Dani said.  
  
'What day is it? If it isn't Wednesday, I'm stumped,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'Check her dogtags while she's asleep tonight. Then check a calendar,' Dani replied, grinned. Both men were confused for a second.  
  
'Oh,' BJ said after a moments thought. 'Sneaky.'  
  
'She'll kill you. You of all people should know she doesn't like fuss,' Hawkeye warned.  
  
'I know,' Dani replied.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Hey Hawkeye,' Alex smiled as the man entered the supply room. The two kissed and Hawkeye quickly checked her dogtags, just in case. Well, if Radar's calendar and Alex's dogtags were right, it was Alex's birthday next Wednesday, two days before Dani was due to be shipped home.  
  
'How do you feel? Your sister will be safe soon,' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'I wish she was going sooner,' Alex replied.  
  
'You were right,' Hawkeye muttered.  
  
'What? What was I right about?' Alex asked.  
  
'When I first met Dani, you said that although you act like you hate each other, you love each other deep down.'  
  
'Way deep, deep, deep down,' Alex grinned. Hawkeye laughed. Suddenly, Alex groaned.  
  
'What?' Hawkeye asked concernedly.  
  
'I have Post op now. Every time we manage to grab the supply room to ourselves. . .' Alex stood up and left. Hawkeye also got up, and he went to find BJ. He eventually found him in the mess tent, trying to stomach the special of the day.  
  
'Don't eat that, we'll have to ask for a new surgeon,' Hawkeye said. 'Dani's right, it is Alex's birthday on Wednesday.'  
  
'Dani told me she wanted to be here for it. She's turning twenty four,' BJ said.  
  
'Let's hold her the biggest bash she's every known. The biggest one in the whole history of Korea!' Hawkeye said, getting excited.  
  
'I'll go get Radar, you talk to Dani,' BJ said, standing up.  
  
'Get Houlihan and Klinger as well,' Hawkeye said. 'Oh, and tell Potter. He'll be annoyed if we don't say anything about it.'  
  
'Got it,' BJ said and the two men ran from the tent to start organising the party.  
  
**~~*~~*~~*~~**  
  
'Klinger, I don't know why I have to do this,' Alex complained.  
  
'It's for a 'pecial occasion,' Klinger said, holding a few pins with his teeth.  
  
'I don't think I'm even your size,' Alex said, staring at the wall. She was on a pedestal and Klinger was pinning the hem of a new dress. He had asked Alex to wear it for him while he did it.  
  
'It's your colour though,' Klinger said, taking the last pin out of his mouth. It was a long flowing dress made out of a light green satin material.  
  
'You are really a good seamstress, Klinger. Did you really make this?' Alex asked.  
  
'Yeah,' Klinger replied.  
  
'I've never been much good at making clothes,' Alex said, still looking down at the dress. 'Maybe you should make a clothes company when you get out of the army.' Klinger smiled modestly.  
  
'Come on, get down, gimme a look,' he said. Alex stepped down carefully and spun around.  
  
'I love it,' Alex said.  
  
'I like it on you, but it's not really the sort of thing I wear. You can have it if you want,' Klinger said.  
  
'Really?' Alex asked.  
  
'Well, it fits you like a dream, and it looks great too,' Klinger said. 'Come on, I'll take you to the officer's club and we'll show you off.'  
  
'Alright,' Alex said, smiling. She quickly brushed her hair with her fingers, and hooked her arm in Klinger's. 'Let's go,' she said. Klinger escorted her to the officer's club and held the door open. Music being played on the juke box warbled out loudly and Alex stepped inside.  
  
'Surprise!' Everyone yelled when they saw Alex. Hawkeye and Dani came up to Alex and hugged her.  
  
'Happy Birthday,' Dani said.  
  
'Wait it's not my. . .' Alex started before stopping and mentally counting the days in her head. 'It is. I forgot my own birthday!' Alex laughed. Radar brought out a large cake on a trolley and put it in front of Alex, who was still laughing.  
  
'Make a wish,' BJ said.  
  
'Who organised this?' Alex demanded.  
  
'Blow your candles out first,' Hawkeye said. Alex grinned and blew hard on the candles on the cake. Everyone cheered after she got the last few with her second blow.  
  
'Come on, who organised all this?' Alex asked.  
  
'Everyone,' Hawkeye said. 'Cut the cake.'  
  
'If you touch the bottom, you have to kiss someone!' Dani yelled out in a sing song voice. Alex cut into the cake.  
  
'You touched the bottom, didn't you!' one of the nurses said. Alex nodded, blushing, and she turned around to pick someone. She grabbed hold of Hawkeye and kissed him. Hawkeye pulled away, he wasn't used to showing his love for Alex in front of an audience. Everyone was laughing, and Alex felt the happiest she'd been since Isaac died.  
  
'This was your idea, wasn't it?' she accused Dani.  
  
'No one would have know it was your birthday if I hadn't insisted on staying,' Dani said. Alex shook her head and grinned.  
  
'You realise, this is the second time you guys have sprung a party on me?' she asked Hawkeye.  
  
'Well you're a special person. You deserve a party every week,' he said. Alex shook her head and smiled. BJ handed Alex a martini and patted her on the back. A few nurses came up to her and wished her a happy birthday, until Klinger pulled her away to a table where there was a few wrapped up gifts on it.  
  
'You didn't have to,' she said.  
  
'Yes, we did,' Margaret said firmly. She handed Alex a large box with a ribbon tied around it.  
  
'It's from us nurses,' Nurse Kellye said. Alex opened it and found a Japanese doll. The second box she opened, from the surgeons and other personnel in the camp had a record in it.  
  
'I got you something separate,' Dani said, giving Alex an envelope. Inside was a photo and Alex started crying hard when she saw it.  
  
Hugging Dani, she said 'It's beautiful.'  
  
'What is it?' Hawkeye asked, taking it from her. A red haired male was in the frame, his arms around both Alex and Dani.  
  
It was about then when the bomb hit the officer's club. 


	15. Party crashed, Dani goes home, and Alex ...

There were screams and the lights flickered out for a few seconds. People were running from the tent, but Hawkeye noticed Alex seemed to have disappeared.  
  
'Hey! Alex! Alex!' he yelled over the noise. A few people stopped to see what he was yelling about. 'Did you see Alex go outside?' Hawkeye yelled to BJ.  
  
'No,' BJ yelled back. Hawkeye, BJ, Radar, Klinger, Potter, Margaret, Frank and Dani started looking around for the nurse while everyone else stampeded from the building.  
  
'Alex!' Dani yelled, diving onto a piece of tin which had dislodged its self from the wall. Everyone ran over and began helping her out.  
  
'Come on, get her to pre op!' Potter yelled over people's screams outside and planes flying overhead. Klinger, Radar, Hawkeye and BJ tried to pick her up and take her outside, Dani running around frantically.  
  
'Will she be ok?' she kept on asking.  
  
'Radar, how many planes still to come?' Hawkeye yelled.  
  
'I don't know, sir, I think it might just be a small attack,' Radar replied.  
  
'They're accurate. I'd hate to see a big attack from these fellas,' Klinger said. They took Alex to the operating room and Hawkeye scrubbed up quickly.  
  
'I want to help,' Dani said, taking the sink beside him.  
  
'Hotlips would be better, you can help by donning blood,' Hawkeye replied. Dani nodded and went away. Hawkeye moved quickly into the operating room, where Alex was breathing shallowly.  
  
'You better save her, Pierce,' Dani said, laying on the table beside them, so BJ could take blood. 'For your sake.' Most of the bombing had stopped by now, though there were occasional explosions a few miles off.  
  
'The enemy shouldn't be back for a few days, sir,' Radar said to Potter.  
  
'Good, we can put all our time and effort into Alex. Radar, go make sure everyone else is ok,' Potter said. Radar nodded and ran out.  
  
'What do you want me to do?' Frank asked.  
  
'No stupid wisecracks right now, Hawkeye,' Potter said as Hawkeye opened his mouth. Hawkeye closed his mouth again and shook his head.

* * *

Alex woke up, in a cot in Post op.  
  
'She's awake!' Klinger yelled. People rushed over to the cot as Alex struggled to sit up.  
  
'Lay down, you'll hurt yourself,' Potter said.  
  
'What happened?' Alex asked.  
  
'You had a wall fall on you,' BJ said.  
  
'Funny, feels more like a hangover,' Alex joked.  
  
'Can't be too bad if you're making jokes,' Dani said. Her face was wet with tears and she had a small scratch on her face. The two sisters hugged and Alex sat back again.  
  
'What day is it?' she asked.  
  
'Friday,' BJ replied.  
  
'You go home today,' Alex grinned at Dani. The smile told Dani that she was happy she was going because she's be safe, but at the same time, she was sad because they wouldn't be together.  
  
'I'll see you at home. I think my chopper arrives in a few minutes,' Dani said. They hugged again, and Dani left before Alex could see the tears on her face. A few other people left so Alex was alone with BJ, Hawkeye and Klinger.  
  
'As much as I appreciate them, don't hold another party for me. You know I don't like fuss,' Alex said to them. Then she rolled over to get some sleep.

* * *

A few days later, Alex was out of bed and well again. Danielle had made it back to the states, but was still waiting for a free spot on a plane to get back home. Alex had been moved to the nurse's tent as there was room now, and everything was back to normal.  
  
Well, as normal as the 4077 could be.  
  
'Martini?' Hawkeye handed a glass to Alex as she came into the Swamp to look for a missing sock.  
  
'Why is my sock always here? She asked, holding Hawkeye's magazine up. 'Do you use it as a book mark or something?'  
  
'Can I help it if you own a dirty sock?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'How's Frank taking my survival?' Alex asked.  
  
'He's upset, but he'll get over it,' BJ replied. Alex grinned and sat down.  
  
'I'll give you a game of chess,' she said to BJ.  
  
'Don't bother, he's good,' Hawkeye said from his cot.  
  
'Just because you're bad at chess, doesn't mean I am,' Alex argued, setting up her pieces. Radar came in with letters and a parcel in his hands fifteen minutes later.  
  
'Mail,' he said, and handed Hawkeye a few letters. He gave BJ three and Alex two.  
  
'Peggy sent me another picture of Erin,' BJ smiled.  
  
'Uh, Alex? What do you want done with Dani's mail?' Radar asked, holding up the remanding letters and the parcel.  
  
'I'll look after it, and send it on later,' Alex said, holding a hand out. Radar gave it to her as BJ took Alex's knight.  
  
'Check,' he said smugly. Alex moved her king, and waited for BJ to move before moving her queen. She grinned after making her move and she looked smugly back at BJ.  
  
'Check to you too,' she said. BJ frowned and stared at the pieces.  
  
'That's impossible!' he said. He moved his king and waited for Alex to move.  
  
'Who's all the mail from for Dani?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'Uh, Mom, a friend of hers and some guys,' Alex replied, glancing through her sister's mail. 'Trust her to get mail from people she barely knows.' She moved her castle piece and smiled sweetly at BJ. 'Check and mate,' she said.  
  
'I don't believe it, BJ lost at chess?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'Hey, I've lost before,' BJ said.  
  
'I've never seen you lose, Beej. You must be good,' Hawkeye said to Alex.  
  
'Not really. You just have to look at all your options and try and second guess your opponent. Nothing to it,' Alex said. She opened one of her letters as BJ reset the piece up and she gasped.  
  
'What?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'That. . . stupid spy, Flagg!' Alex yelled. 'He's got a court martial out on me! Because I won't tell him why I'm in Korea. I could kill him!'  
  
'Court martial forms are those things you can't ignore, Alex,' BJ said.  
  
'Listen to this. "Suspected of being a communist or communist sympathizer". Just because I happened to have joined up again.' Alex threw the papers into the stove.  
  
'We'd better go see Colonel Potter about it,' Hawkeye said, standing up. Alex was muttering loudly to herself but she stood up as well. Hawkeye put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a peck on the cheek.  
  
'Don't worry, I'll come to Seoul or Tokyo or where ever with you to get this all sorted out,' he told her. Alex pulled away from Hawkeye and stared at him.  
  
'You sure?' she asked.  
  
'Course I'm sure! And if it means I have to endure three or more days at the R and R center there for you, so be it!' Hawkeye exclaimed. Alex laughed, and they left for the Colonel's office.

* * *

Kooshball Note: Woohoo, another chapter up! And only (pauses to count back the weeks) two months ago! 


	16. Flagg again

Kooshball note: Woohoo! An update! I'm sure this chapter could be better, but I'm too tired to bother changing it.

* * *

'You will have to go to Seoul to have this all sorted out,' Potter said to Alex, after hearing all about it. 'It would have been a good idea if you hadn't thrown that letter in the fire, though.'  
  
'I'm sure they can send you a second copy,' Alex said. 'Oh and can Hawkeye come with me? I don't want to have to defend myself alone.' Potter glanced quickly at his chief surgeon.  
  
'Only if you promise to keep him on a leash at all times. No blowing up buildings, no kidnapping women. No pranks. . .' Potter began.  
  
'Colonel, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't trust me,' Hawkeye said in a hurt voice. But he grinned. 'All right, I'll stick by Alex the whole time.'  
  
'And I better not get any phone calls about my Captain and Lieutenant in Seoul,' Potter warned. 'Otherwise no movies for a month!' Alex and Hawkeye nodded and left, without saluting.  
  
'Those two will be leaving Seoul in ruins,' Potter muttered loudly to himself as he pulled out forms that needed signing.

* * *

'See you later, Beej,' Alex said as Hawkeye jumped into the jeep. 'We'll try and ring if anything happens.'  
  
'You'll get off. Flagg's a nut,' BJ said. Hawkeye started the motor and pulled out of the compound, managing to hit every single bump in the road.  
  
'Hawkeye, will you slow down!' Alex yelled at they hit an especially large bump.  
  
'Sorry,' Hawkeye said, speeding up. They got to Seoul without much happening, and the first thing they did was book into a hotel.  
  
'Will you be wanting one bed or two?' the manager asked. Hawkeye and Alex glanced at each other.  
  
'One,' Hawkeye said as Alex opened her mouth. Sighing, she didn't argue but carried her bag upstairs beside Hawkeye.  
  
'Oh good, there's a couch. You can sleep on that instead of the floor,' Alex joked.  
  
'Ha ha,' Hawkeye said sarcastically. 'Don't forget why we're here.'  
  
'I know. Stupid Flagg,' Alex muttered, dumping her bag on the floor. She went to the bathroom to get changed into her dress uniform, making sure the door was firmly locked, the keyhole plugged and one of the towels along the gap in the bottom of the door. She could hear Hawkeye's annoyed cursing through the door when he found he couldn't spy on her. She laughed, and made sure she looked alright before going back out. Hawkeye was still buttoning his shirt.  
  
'Hurry up,' Alex said, running her fingers through her hair nervously.  
  
'Drink before we go?' Hawkeye asked, holding up a glass bottle.  
  
'What year?' Alex asked, grabbing two cups.  
  
'1952. Yesterday's actually,' Hawkeye replied. Alex took a mouthful and smiled.  
  
'Good year,' she said. Hawkeye nodded in agreement and the two walked back down stairs. 'How many more bottles of Martini 1952 do you have?' Alex asked.  
  
'Just that one,' Hawkeye replied as he held the door open for her. They walked to the building where Alex had her trial and Hawkeye winked at Alex.  
  
'You'll be fine. Flagg has nothing on you,' he said. Alex smiled back and they went inside.

* * *

The room was small and stuffy, and Flagg was there in the corner, looking a little triumphant at being able to finally nab a "commie" from the 4077th. The charges were read out, and they moved straight to deciding if Alex was a communist or not.  
  
'Hey, don't I get a say in all this?' Alex asked angrily.  
  
'I suppose,' one of the Generals said begrudgingly. Alex stood up, and looked around at the Generals. All of them obviously felt as if she should be arrested, so she guessed Flagg had already talked to them and convinced them.  
  
'Flagg has been following me for a long time,' Alex started. 'Stalking me, even. All because of what? I signed up for the army twice! For fighting for my country! To protect the American way! I joined to be a patriot, not to help the communists we're fighting against, but to help force them back.' Alex continued for as long as she could about "patriotism" before she was stopped.  
  
'Lieutenant Alexia Dustin, we find you not guilty of Communism and apologise for pulling you away from your work,' one General said. Alex nodded. She left the room quickly and was followed by Hawkeye.  
  
'How did you come up with that?' Hawkeye asked.  
  
'I just pretended I was Frank,' Alex said, shrugging. 'Come on, let's go get something to drink.' Hawkeye nodded and they found a small bar a few streets over.  
  
'We didn't even need to get a room,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'Well, how's the Colonel going to know if we stay an extra few days?' Alex asked. 'We earned it.'  
  
'We'll get back and be arrested for desertion,' Hawkeye said. Alex reached into her pocket and pulled out two pieces of paper.  
  
'Passes, good for three days,' she said. 'I got Radar to get them for us before we left.'  
  
'You're sneaky,' Hawkeye said, grinning.  
  
'Why, thank you,' Alex said, sitting back in her chair. She beckoned the small Korean waitress. 'Two martinis, impossibly dry,' she said. 


	17. Damn War

'Do you think they'll let us back in that bath house ever again after what we did to that General?' Alex asked, giggling.  
  
'Probably not,' Hawkeye grinned. They were on the way back to the 4077th, finishing the last of the martini in the bottle Hawkeye had brought, and slightly tipsy. Hawkeye stopped the jeep bumpily as they passed the mess tent. A few people came out to greet them, and Alex stumbled out of the jeep with a little help from Klinger.  
  
'So? What happened?' BJ demanded.  
  
'I won,' Alex replied, leaning against the tent. She began giggling again, and tried to get her bag out of the jeep.  
  
'I'll do it. You don't want to hurt yourself,' Radar said, reaching in and pulling the suitcase out.  
  
'Good to have you both back. We just got news Flagg managed to have some one arrested yesterday, and we're glad it's not you,' Potter said. Alex sobered up a little.  
  
'He actually got someone arrested?' she asked, frowning.  
  
'Yep,' BJ replied. 'Got them on desertion.' Alex and Hawkeye glanced at each other before bursting into laughter again. Suddenly, there was the sound of a chopper coming in over the hill.  
  
'Wounded coming in!' Radar yelled, and he rushed off to tell everyone.  
  
'Just in time for meatball surgery,' Hawkeye grumbled.  
  
'Come on, you've had it good for a couple of days. Time to get back into routine,' BJ said, running towards the chopper pad as three more choppers appeared from behind the hills.  
  
'I don't think I'm sober enough to operate,' Alex complained.  
  
'Head to the showers and sober up, then,' Potter sad, losing his good temper almost instantly at the thought of wounded. Hawkeye and Alex made their way quickly to the showers. Alex yelped when Hawkeye sprayed her with cold water.  
  
'I miss Seoul already,' she complained, thrusting her head under the shower, not caring if her clothes got wet.

* * *

Alex fell onto her cot in the nurses tent. She didn't care if the war were to end right then and there, she just wanted some sleep.  
  
'Hey, Alex?' Radar knocked on the tent door.  
  
'Come in, Radar,' Alex said, wondering if she'd ever get out of her cot again.  
  
'Uh, I have some bad news,' Radar said. Alex sat up. Looks like she wouldn't be sleeping for a long time yet.

* * *

'They're moving you to a different unit?' Hawkeye exclaimed.  
  
'Yep. Damn army says the 4077th has too many nurses and some other unit doesn't have enough. They picked me as one of the nurses to move,' Alex said. She tossed in another chip. 'I'll see your dollar and raise two more.'  
  
'Fold,' BJ muttered. 'Who else knows?'  
  
'You two, Radar, Margaret and Potter. Oh, and probably Frank,' Alex said.  
  
'Three of a kind,' Hawkeye said.  
  
'Full house. Pay up,' Alex grinned. Hawkeye threw his hands down in disgust.  
  
'Why do you have to go? Why can't they send Margaret?' he asked.  
  
'I've talked to Colonel Potter about it, and he says there isn't a lot he can do, but he was gonna try,' Alex said, scraping the pile of poker chips towards her. She took a swig of martini, looked at the glass in her hand, then pushed the chips back into the middle. 'I don't want to take your money tonight, I might just go to bed,' Alex mumbled.  
  
'Awww, come on, Alex, stay for a few more hands,' Hawkeye said, standing up with Alex.  
  
'I've gotta pack, anyway,' Alex said, leaving the Swamp without looking back. Hawkeye stood there for a moment, then flung his martini glass into the Swamp door.  
  
'This damn war!' he said.  
  
'There isn't much we can do, Hawk,' BJ said.  
  
'I know,' Hawkeye replied, sitting on his bunk, not looking up.  
  
'It's not your fault,' BJ continued. Hawkeye nodded this time.  
  
'Damn war,' BJ said, staring at the poker chip pile on the table.

* * *

'I'll write you every day,' Alex said, leaning out the back of the truck window. She was travelling in the supply truck that was heading towards the understaffed MASH unit. Hawkeye grasped her hand.  
  
'Only every day you aren't working,' he said. Alex pulled a strand of hair away from her face.  
  
'Damn war,' she said as the truck began to move off. As Hawkeye's hand slipped from hers, she suddenly realised that she might not see him again, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

* * *

Kooshball note: I don't know if I'll continue this or not, it all depends, I suppose... 


End file.
